Senators seek deal on background checks

Accord would be major step toward restricting guns

Associated Press

Associated Press

Published 11:16 pm, Sunday, April 7, 2013

FILE  In this Feb. 27, 2013, file photo faces of Sandy Hook Elementary School victims are seen behind Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D Calif., as she speaks about the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 during the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congress returns Monday, April 8, 2013, from a two-week spring recess with gun control and immigration high on the Senate's agenda. Senators could start debating Democratic-written gun legislation before week's end. But leaders also might decide to give negotiators more time to seek a deal on expanding background checks for firearms buyers. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

FILE  In this Feb. 27, 2013, file photo faces of Sandy Hook...

FILE - In this March 14, 2013, file photo, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congress returns Monday, April 8, 2013, from a two-week spring recess with gun control and immigration high on the Senate's agenda. Short of unanimous support in their own party, Democratic senators have been unable to strike a deal with Republicans for the votes they will need to push background check legislation through the chamber. Reid might delay debate to give bargainers more time, underscoring how crucial the proposal is to the gun control drive. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

FILE - In this March 14, 2013, file photo, Senate Majority Leader...

FILE- In this Jan. 30, 2013, file photo Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., talks about gun legislation during the committee's hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congress returns from a two-week spring recess Monday, April 8, 2013, with gun control and immigration high on the Senate's agenda. Senators could start debating Democratic-written gun legislation before week's end, but leaders may decide to give negotiators more time to seek a deal on expanding background checks for firearms buyers. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Two influential senators, one from each party, are working on an agreement that could expand background checks on firearms sales to include gun shows and online transactions, Senate aides said Sunday.

If completed, the effort could represent a major breakthrough in the effort by President Barack Obama and his allies to restrict guns following last December's massacre of schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn.

Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., could nail down an accord early this week, said the aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private talks. With the Senate returning Monday from a two-week recess, the chamber's debate on gun control legislation could begin as soon as Tuesday, though it might be delayed if the lawmakers need more time to complete a deal, the aides said.

The potential deal, which aides cautioned still might change, would exempt transactions between relatives and temporary transfers for hunters and sportsmen, they said.

Manchin is a moderate who touts an A rating from the National Rifle Association, which has opposed Obama's gun control drive. Toomey has solid conservative credentials and was elected to the Senate two years ago with tea party support from his Democratic-leaning state.

A united front by the two lawmakers would make it easier for gun control advocates to attract support from moderate Democrats who have been wary of supporting the effort and from Republicans who have largely opposed it so far.

With conservative Republicans threatening a filibuster, Democrats will need 60 of the chamber's 100 votes to prevail.

Federal background checks are currently required only for transactions handled by the roughly 55,000 federally licensed firearms dealers; private sales such as gun-show or online purchases are exempt. The system is designed to keep guns from criminals, people with serious mental problems, and some others.

After 20 first-graders and six elementary school staffers were killed at Newtown, Obama proposed applying the requirement to virtually all firearms sales.